by Edward Balioll wherof our chronicles doo report that in the yéere of our Lord 1326 Edward the third king of England was crowned at Westminster and in the fift yeare of his reigne Edward Balioll right heire to the kingdome of Scotland came in and claimed it as due to him Sundrie lords and gentlemen also which had title to diuerse lands there either by themselues or by their wiues did the like Wherevpon the said Balioll and they went into Scotland by sea and landing at Kinghorns with 3000 Englishmen discomfited 10000 Scots and flue 1200 and then went foorth to Dunfermeline where the Scots assembled against them with 40000 men and in the feast of saint Laurence at a place called Gastmore or otherwise Gladmore were slaine fiue earls thirtéene barons a hundred and thrée score knights two thousand men of armes and manie other in all fortie thousand and there were staine on the English part but thirtéene persons onelie if the number be not corrupted In the eight yeare of the reigne of king Edward he assembled a great hoast and came to Berwike vpon Twéed and laid siege therto To him also came Edward Balioll king of Scots with a great power to strengthen aid him against the Scots who came out of Scotland in foure batels well armed araied Edward king of England and Edward king of Scots apparrelled their people either of them in foure battels and vpon Halidon hill beside Berwike met these two hoasts and there were discomfited of the Scots fiue and twentie thousand and seauen hundred whereof were slaine eight earles a thousand and thrée hundred knights and gentlemen This victorie doone the king returned to Berwike then the towne with the castell were yéelded vp vnto him In the eight yeare of the reigne of king Edward of England Edward Balioll king of Scots came to Newcastell vpon Tine and did homage for all the realme of Scotland In the yeare of our Lord 1346 Dauid Bruse by the prouocation of the king of France rebelled and came into England with a great hoast vnto Neuils crosse but the archbishop of Yorke with diuerse temporall men fought with him and the said king of Scots was taken and William earle of Duglas with Morrise earle of Strathorne were brought to London and manie other lords slaine which with Dauid did homage to Edward king of England And in the thirtith yeare of the kings reigne and the yeare of our Lord 1355 the Scots woone the towne of Berwicke but not the castell Herevpon the king came thither with a great hoast and anon the towne was yéelded vp without anie resistance Edward Balioll considering that God did so manie maruellous and gratious things for king Edward at his owne will gaue vp the crowne and the realme of Scotland to king Edward of England at Rokesborough by his letters patents And anon after the king of England in presence of all his lords spirituall and temporall let crowne himselfe king there of the realme of Scotland ordeined all things to his intent and so came ouer into England Richard the sonne of Edward called the Blacke prince sonne of this king Edward was next king of England who for that the said Iane the wife of the said king Dauid of Scotland was deceassed without issue and being informed how the Scots deuised to their vttermost power to breake the limitation of this inheritance touching the crowne of Scotland made foorthwith war against them wherein he burnt Edenbrough spoiled all their countrie tooke all their holds held continuallie war against them vntill his death which was Anno Dom. 1389. Henrie the fourth of that name was next king of England he continued these warres begun against them by king Richard and ceassed not vntill Robert king of Scots the third of that name resigned his crowne by appointment of this king Henrie and deliuered his sonne Iames being then of the age of nine yeares into his hands to remaine at his custodie wardship and disposition as of his superiour lord according to the old lawes of king Edward the confessor All this was doone Anno Dom. 1404 which was within fiue yeares after the death of king Richard This Henrie the fourth reigned in this estate ouer them fouretéene yeares Henrie the fift of that name sonne to this king Henrie the fourth was next king of England He made warres against the French king in all which this Iames then king of Scots attended vpon him as vpon his superiour lord with a conuenient number of Scots notwithstanding their league with France But this Henrie reigned but nine yeares whereby the homage of this Iames their king hauing not fullie accomplished the age of one twentie yeares was by reason and law respited Finallie the said Iames with diuerse other lords attended vpon the corps of the said Henrie vnto Westminster as to his dutie apperteined Henrie the sixt the sonne of this Henrie the fift was next king of England to whome the seigniorie of Scotland custodie of this Iames by right law and reason descended married the same Iames king of Scots to Iane daughter of Iohn earle of Summerset at saint Marie ouer Ise in Southwarke and tooke for the value of this mariage the summe of one hundred thousand markes starling This Iames king of Scots at his full age did homage to the same king Henrie the sixt for the kingdome of Scotland at Windsore in the moneth of Ianuarie Since which time vntill the daies of king Henrie the seuenth grandfather to our souereigne ladie that now is albeit this realme hath béene molested with diuersitie of titles in which vnmeet time neither law nor reason admit prescription to the preiudice of anie right yet did king Edward the fourth next king of England by preparation of war against the Scots in the latter end of his reigne sufficientlie by all lawes induce to the continuance of his claime to the same superioritie ouer them After whose death vnto the beginning of the reigne of our souereigne lord king Henrie the eight excéeded not the number of seauen and twentie yeares about which time the impediment of our claime of the Scots part chanced by the nonage of Iames their last king which so continued the space of one and twentie yeares And like as his minoritie was by all law and reason an impediment to himselfe to make homage so was the same by like reason an impediment to the king of this realme to demand anie so that the whole time of intermission of our claime in the time of the said king Henrie the eight is deduced vnto the number of thirteene yeares And thus much for this matter Of the wall sometime builded for a partition betweene England and the Picts and Scots Chap. 23. HAuing hitherto discoursed vpon the title of the kings of England vnto the Scotish kingdome I haue now thought good to adde here vnto the description of two walles that were in times past limits vnto both the said regions and therefore to
which should be prima as yet I do not read except it should be Anglesei and then saith Malmesburie well In like sort Propertius speaketh of a Meuania which he called Nebulosa but he meaneth it euidentlie of a little towne in Umbria where he was borne lib. 4. eleg De vrbe Rom. Wherfore there néedeth no vse of his authoritie This in the meane time is euident out of Orosius lib 1. capite 2. that Scots dwelled somtime in this I le as also in Ireland which Ethicus also affirmeth of his owne time and finallie confirmeth that the Scots and Irish were sometime one people It hath in length 24. miles and 8. in bredth and is in maner of like distance from Galloway in Scotland Ireland and Cumberland in England as Buchanan reporteth In this Iland also were some time 1300. families of which 960. were in the west halfe and the rest in the other But now through ioining house to house land to land a common plague and canker which will eat vp all if prouision be not made in time to withstand this mischéefe that number is halfe diminished and yet many of the rich inhabiters want roome and wote not how and where to bestowe themselues to their quiet contentations Certes this impediment groweth not by reason that men were greater in bodie than they haue béene in time past but onelie for that their insatiable desire of inlarging their priuate possessions increaseth still vpon them and will doo more except they be restrained but to returne to our purpose It was once spoiled by the Scots in the time of king Athelstane chéeflie by Anlafus in his flight from the bloudie battell wherein Constantine king of Scotland was ouercome secondlie by the Scots 1388. after it came to the possession of the English for in the beginning the kings of Scotland had this Iland vnder their dominion almost from their first arriuall in this Iland and as Beda saith till Edwine king of the Northumbers wan it from them and vnited it to his kingdome After the time of Edwine the Scots gat the possession thereof againe and held it till the Danes Norwaies wan it from them who also kept it but with much trouble almost 370. yeares vnder the gouernance of their viceroies whome the kings of Norwaie inuested vnto that honor till Alexander the third king of that name in Scotland recouered it from them with all the rest of those Iles that lie vpon the west coast called also Sodorenses in the daies of Magnus king of Norwaie And sithens that time the Scotish princes haue not ceased to giue lawes to such as dwelled there but also from time to time appointed such bishops as should exercise ecclesiasticall iurisdiction in the same till it was won from them by our princes and so vnited vnto the realme of England Finallie how after sundrie sales bargains and contracts of matrimonie for I read that William Scroope the kings Uicechamberleine did buy this I le and crowne thereof of the lord William Montacute earle of Sarum it came vnto the ancestours of the earles of Darbie who haue béene commonlie said to be kings of Man the discourse folowing shall more at large declare Giraldus noteth a contention betwéene the kings of England Ireland for the right of this Iland but in the end when by a comprâ—mise the triall of the matter was referred to the liues or deaths of such venemous wormes as should be brought into the same and it was found that they died not at all as the like doo in Ireland sentence passed with the king of England so he reteined the Iland But howsoeuer this matter standeth and whether anie such thing was done at all or not sure it is that the people of the said Ile were much giuen to witchcraft and sorcerie which they learned of the Scots a nation greatlie bent to that horible practise in somuch that their women would oftentimes sell wind to the mariners inclosed vnder certeine knots of thred with this iniunction that they which bought the same should for a great gale vndoo manie and for the lesse a fewer or smaller number The stature of the men and also fertilitie of this Iland are much commended and for the latter supposed verie néere to be equall with that of Anglesei in all commodities There are also these townes therein as they come now to my remembrance Rushen Dunglasse Holme towne S. Brids Bala cury the bishops house S. Mich. S. Andrew kirk Christ kirk Louel S. Mathees kirk S. Anne Pala sala kirk S. Marie kirk Concane kirk Malu and Home But of all these Rushen with the castell is the strongest It is also in recompense of the common want of wood indued with sundrie pretie waters as first of al the Burne rising in the northside of Warehill botoms and branching out by southwest of kirk S. An it séemeth to cut off a great part of the eastside thereof from the residue of that Iland From those hils also but of the south halfe commeth the Holme and Holmey by a towne of the same name in the verie mouth whereof lieth the Pile afore mentioned They haue also the Bala passing by Bala cury on the westside and the Rame on the north whose fall is named Ramesei hauen as I doo read in Chronicles There are moreouer sundrie great hils therein as that wherevpon S. Mathees standeth in the northeast part of the I le a parcell whereof commeth flat south betwéene kirk Louell and kirk Marie yéelding out of their botoms the water Bala whereof I spake before Beside these and well toward the south part of the I le I find the Warehils which are extended almost from the west coast ouertwhart vnto the Burne streame It hath also sundrie hauens as Ramsei hauen by north Laxam hauen by east Port Iris by southwest Port Home and Port Michell by west In like sort there are diuers Ilets annexed to the same as the Calfe of man on the south the Pile on the west and finallie S. Michels Ile in the gulfe called Ranoths waie in the east Moreouer the sheepe of this countrie are excéeding huge well woolled and their tailes of such greatnesse as is almost incredible In like sort their hogs are in maner monstrous They haue furthermore great store of barnacles bréeding vpon their coasts but yet not so great store as in Ireland and those as there also of old ships ores masts peeces of rotten timber as they saie and such putrified pitched stuffe as by wrecke hath happened to corrupt vpon that shore Howbeit neither the inhabitants of this I le nor yet of Ireland can readilie saie whether they be fish or flesh for although the religious there vsed to eat them as fish yet elsewhere some haue beene troubled for eating of them in times prohibited for heretikes and lollards For my part I haue béene verie desirous to vnderstand the vttermost of the bréeding of
March chappell Saltfléete Wilgripe Mapleford saint Clements Wenfléete Friscon Toft Skerbike Boston Frompton Woluerton Fossedike a good hauen In Northfolke Linne a good hauen Snatchham Hitchham Desingham good Thunstone Thorneham good Brankester good Burnham good with diuers townes and villages thereto belonging Welles good Strikeie Marston Blakeleie towne Withon Claie Blakelie hauen good Salthouse créeke Sheringham hith Roughton Cromer Beston Trinningham Mounsleie Bromwall Haseborow Wakesham Eckelles Winterton Custer Helmesleie Okell Upton Waibridge Yarmouth good all the waie to Norwich with diuerse villages on the riuer side In Suffolke Becles Bongeie Southton Corton Gorton Laistow a good port Kirtill Pakefield Kasseldon Bliborow Coffe hith Eston Walderswijc Donewich Swold hauen Sisewell Thorpe Alborow Orford a good hauen Balseie good Felixstow Colneie Sproten Ypswich Downambridge good Pinnemill Shoteleie Cataweie Barfold In Esseâ— we haue Dedham Maning trée Thorne Wrabbesnes Ramseie Harwich Douercourt Handford Okeleie Kirbie Thorpe Brichwill Walton mill Walton hall Ganfléete Newhauen good S. Osithes Bentleie good Bricleseie Thorlington where good ships of a hundred tun or more be made Alsford Wiuenhall Colchester Cold hith Rough hedge Fingering ho east Merseie west Merseie Salcot Goldanger Borow Maldon Stanesgate Sudmester S. Peters Burnham Crixseie Aldon Clements gréene Hulbridge Pacleston Barling litle Wakering much Wakering south Sudburie Wakeringham Melton Papper hill or Lee Beaâ—â—fléete Pidseie range Fobbing Hadleie good Mucking Stanford and Tilberiâ— ferrie In Kent Harling Cliffe Tanfleete Stokehow Snodlond Melhall Maidston Ailessord New hith Rochester Gelingham Reinham Upchurch Halsted Quinborow Milton Feuersham Whitâ—â—aple Herne Margate Brodestaier Ramsgate and manie of these good créekes also Sandwich Douer Hide reasonable ports although none of the best In Sussex we haue Smalade with the créekes adioining to the same Ridon Appledoure Rie a good hauen and Winchelseie nothing at all inferiour to the same and so manie shires onelie are left vnto me at this time wherefore of force I must abruptlie leaue off to deale anie further with the rest whose knowledge I am right sure would haue beene profftable and for the which I hoped to haue reaped great thankes at the hands of such sea-faring-men as should haue had vse hereof Desunt caetera Of the aire soile and commodities of this Iland Cap. 18. THe aire for the most part throughout the Iland is such as by reason in maner of continuall clouds is reputed to be grosse and nothing so pleasant as that is of the maine Howbeit as they which affirme these things haue onelie respect to the impediment or hinderance of the sunne beames by the interposition of the clouds and oft ingrossed aire so experience teacheth vs that it is no lesse pure wholesome and commodious than is that of other countries and as Caesar himselfe hereto addeth much more temperate in summer than that of the Galles from whom he aduentured hither Neither is there anie thing found in the aire of our region that is not vsuallie seene amongst other nations lieng beyond the seas Wherefore we must néeds confesse that the situation of our Iland for benefit of the heauens is nothing inferiour to that of anie countrie of the maine where so euer it lie vnder the open firmament And this Plutarch knew full well who affirmeth a part of the Elistan fields to be found in Britaine and the Iles that are situate about it in the Ocean The soile of Britaine is such as by the testimonies and reports both of the old and new writers and experience also of such as now inhabit the same is verie fruitfull and such in deed as bringeth foorth manie commodities whereof other countries haue néed and yet it selfe if fond nicenesse were abolished néedlesse of those that are dailie brought from other places Neuerthelesse it is more inclined to féeding and grasing than profitable for tillage and bearing of corne by reason whereof the countrie is woonderfullie replenished with neat and all kind of cattell and such store is there also of the same in euerie place that the fourth part of the land is scarselie manured for the prouision and maintenance of graine Certes this fruitfulnesse was not vnknowne vnto the Britons long before Caesars time which was the cause wherefore our predecessors liuing in those daies in maner neglected tillage and liued by féeding and grasing onelie The grasiers themselues also then dwelled in mooueable villages by companies whose custome was to diuide the ground amongst them and each one not to depart from the place where his lot laie a thing much like to the Irish Criacht till by eating vp of the countrie about him he was inforced to remooue further and séeke for better pasture And this was the British custome as I learne at first It hath béene commonlie reported that the ground of Wales is neither so fruitfull as that of England neither the soile of Scotland so bountifull as that of Wales which is true for corne and for the most part otherwise there is so good ground in some parts of Wales as is in England albeit the best of Scotland be scarselie comparable to the meane of either of both Howbeit as the bountie of the Scotish dooth faile in some respect so dooth it surmount in other God and nature hauing not appointed all countries to yéeld foorth like commodities But where our ground is not so good as we would wish we haue if néed be sufficient helpe to cherish our ground withall and to make it more fruitfull For beside the compest that is carried out of the husbandmens yards ditches ponds doouehouses or cities and great townes we haue with vs a kind of white marle which is of so great force that if it be cast ouer a péece of land but once in thrée score years it shall not need of anie further compesting Hereof also dooth Plinie speake lib. 17. cap. 6 7 8 where he affirmeth that our marle indureth vpon the earth by the space of fourescore yeares insomuch that it is laid vpon the same but once in a mans life whereby the owner shall not need to trauell twise in procuring to commend and better his soile He calleth it Marga and making diuerse kinds thereof he finallie commendeth ours and that of France aboue all other which lieth sometime a hundred foot déepe and farre better than the scattering of chalke vpon the same as the Hedui and Pictones did in his time or as some of our daies also doo practise albeit diuerse doo like better to cast on lime but it will not so long indure as I haue heard reported There are also in this Iland great plentie of fresh riuers and streames as you haue heard alreadie and these throughlie fraught with all kinds of delicate fish accustomed to be found in riuers The whole I le likewise is verie full of hilles of which some though not verie manie are of exceeding heigth and diuerse extending themselues verie far from the beginning as we may see by
being nine yeares of age was by the lawes of Edgar in ward to king Henrie the third by the nobles of Scotland brought to Yorke and there deliuered vnto him During whose minoritie king Henrie gouerned Scotland and to subdue a commotion in this realme vsed the aid of fiue thousand Scotishmen But king Henrie died during the nonage of this Alexander whereby he receiued not his homage which by reason and law was respited vntill his full age of one and twentie yeares Edward the first after the conquest sonne of this Henrie was next king of England immediatlie after whose coronation Alexander king of Scots being then of full age did homage to him for Scotland at Westminster swearing as all the rest did after this maner I. D. N. king of Scots shall be true and faithfull vnto you lord E. by the grace of God king of England the noble and superior lord of the kingdome of Scotland and vnto you I make my fidelitie for the same kingdome the which I hold and claime to hold of you And I shall beare you my faith and fidelitie of life and lim and worldlie honour against all men faithfullie I shall knowlege and shall doo you seruice due vnto you of the kingdome of Scotland aforesaid as God me so helpe and these holie euangelies This Alexander king of Scots died leauing one onelie daughter called Margaret for his heire who before had maried Hanigo sonne to Magnus king of Norwaie which daughter also shortlie after died leauing one onelie daughter hir heire of the age of two yeares whose custodie and mariage by the lawes of king Edgar and Edward the confessor belonged to Edward the first whervpon the nobles of Scotland were commanded by our king Edward to send into Norwaie to conueie this yoong queene into England to him whome he intended to haue maried to his sonne Edward and so to haue made a perfect vnion long wished for betwéene both realmes Herevpon their nobles at that time considering the same tranquillitie that manie of them haue since refused stood not vpon shifts and delaies of minoritie nor contempt but most gladlie consented and therevpon sent two noble men of Scotland into Norwaie for hir to be brought to this king Edward but she died before their comming thither and therefore they required nothing but to inioie the lawfull liberties that they had quietlie possessed in the last king Alexanders time After the death of this Margaret the Scots were destitute of anie heire to the crowne from this Alexander their last king at which time this Edward descended from the bodie of Mawd daughter of Malcolme sometime king of Scots being then in the greatest broile of his warres with France minded not to take the possession of that kingdome in his owne right but was contented to establish Balioll to be king thereof the weake title betwéene him Bruse Hastings being by the humble petition of all the realme of Scotland cōmitted to the determination of king Edward wherein by autentike writing they confessed the superioritie of the realme to remaine in king Edward sealed with the seales of foure bishops seuen earles and twelue barons of Scotland and which shortlie after was by the whole assent of the three estates of Scotland in their solemne parlement confessed and enacted accordinglie as most euidentlie dooth appeare The Balioll in this wise made king of Scotland did immediatlie make his homage and fealtie at Newcastell vpon saint Stéeuens daie as did likewise all the lords of Scotland each one setting his hand to the composition in writing to king Edward of England for the kingdome of Scotland but shortlie after defrauding the benigne goodnesse of his superiour he rebelled and did verie much hurt in England Herevpon king Edward inuaded Scotland seized into his hands the greater part of the countrie and tooke all the strengths thereof Whervpon Balioll king of Scots came vnto him to Mauntrosse in Scotland with a white wand in his hand and there resigned the crowne of Scotland with all his right title and interest to the same into the hands of king Edward and thereof made his charter in writing dated and sealed the fourth yeare of his reigne All the nobles and gentlemen of Scotland also repaired to Berwike and did homage and fealtie to king Edward there becomming his subiects For the better assurance of whose oths also king Edward kept all the strengths and holdes of Scotland in his owne hands and herevpon all their lawes processes all iudgements gifts of assises and others passed vnder the name and authoritie of king Edward Leland touching the same rehearsall writeth thereof in this maner In the yeare of our Lord 1295 the same Iohn king of Scots contrarie to his faith and allegiance rebelled against king Edward and came into England and burnt and siue without all modestie and mercie Wherevpon king Edward with a great host went to Newcastell vpon Tine passed the water of Twéed besieged Berwike and got it Also he wan the castell of Dunbar and there were slaine at this brunt 15700 Scots Then he proceeded further and gat the castell of Rokesborow and the castell of Edenborow Striuelin and Gedworth and his people harried all the land In the meane season the said king Iohn of Scots considering that he was not of power to withstand king Edward sent his letters and besought him of treatie and peace which our prince benignlie granted and sent to him againe that he should come to the towre of Brechin and bring thither the great lords of Scotland with him The king of England sent thither Antonie Becke bishop of Durham with his roiall power to conclude the said treatise And there it was agreed that the said Iohn and all the Scots should vtterlie submit themselues to the kings will And to the end the submission should be performed accordinglie the king of Scots laid his sonne in hostage and pledge vnto him There also he made his letters sealed with the common scale of Scotland by the which he knowledging his simplenes and great offense doone to his lord king Edward of England by his full power and frée will yeelded vp all the land of Scotland with all the people and homage of the same Then our king went foorth to sée the mounteins and vnderstanding that all was in quiet and peace he turned to the abbeie of Scone which was of chanons regular where he tooke the stone called the Regall of Scotland vpon which the kings of that nation were woont to sit at the time of their coronations for a throne sent it to the abbeie of Westminster commanding to make a chaire therof for the priests that should sing masse at the high altar which chaire was made and standeth yet there at this daie to be séene In the yeare of our Lord 1296 the king held his parlement at Berwike and there he tooke homage singularlie of diuerse of the lords nobles of Scotland And for a perpetuall memorie of the same they
of England 2 Of the number of bishoprikes and their seuerall circuits 3 Of vniuersities 4 Of the partition of England into shires and counties 5 Of degrees of people in the common-wealth of England 6 Of the food and diet of the English 7 Of their apparell and attire 8 Of the high court of parlement authoritie of the same 9 Of the lawes of England since hir first inhabitation 10 Of prouision made for the poore 11 Of fundrie kinds of punishment appointed for malefactors 12 Of the maner of building and furniture of our houses 13 Of cities and townes in England 14 Of castels and holds 15 Of palaces belonging to the prince 16 Of armour and munition 17 Of the nauie of England 18 Of faires and markets 19 Of parkes and warrens 20 Of gardens and orchards 21 Of waters generallie 22 Of woods and marishes 23 Of baths and hot welles 24 Of antiquities found 25 Of the coines of England Of the ancient and present estate of the church of England Chap. 1. THere are now two prouinces onelie in England of which the first and greatest is subiect to the sée of Canturburie comprehending a parte of Lhoegres whole Cambria also Ireland which in time past were seuerall brought into one by the archbishop of the said sée assistance of the pope who in respect of méed did yéeld vnto the ambitious desires of sundrie archbishops of Canturburie as I haue elsewhere declared The second prouince is vnder the sée of Yorke and of these either hath hir archbishop resident commonlie within hir owne limits who hath not onelie the cheefe dealing in matters apperteining to the hierarchie and iurisdiction of the church but also great authoritie in ciuill affaires touching the gouernement of the common wealth so far foorth as their commissions and seuerall circuits doo extend In old time there were thrée archbishops and so manie prouinces in this Ile of which one kept at London another at Yorke and the third at Caerlheon vpon Uske But as that of London was translated to Canturburie by Augustine and that of Yorke remaineth notwithstanding that the greatest part of his iurisdiction is now bereft him and giuen to the Scotish archbishop so that of Caerlheon is vtterlie extinguished and the gouernement of the countrie vnited to that of Canturburie in spirituall cases after it was once before remoued to S. Dauids in Wales by Dauid successor to Dubritius and vncle to king Arthur in the 519 of Grace to the end that he and his clearkes might be further off from the crueltie of the Saxons where it remained till the time of the Bastard and for a season after before it was annexed vnto the sée of Canturburie The archbishop of Canturburie is commonlie called primat of all England and in the coronations of the kings of this land and all other times wherein it shall please the prince to weare and put on his crowne his office is to set it vpon their heads They beare also the name of their high chapleins continuallie although not a few of them haue presumed in time past to be their equals and void of subiection vnto them That this is true it may easilie appéere by their owne acts yet kept in record beside their epistles answers written or in print wherein they haue sought not onelie to match but also to mate them with great rigor and more than open tyrannie Our aduersaries will peraduenture denie this absolutelie as they doo manie other things apparant though not without shamelesse impudencie or at the leastwise defend it as iust and not swaruing from common equitie bicause they imagine euerie archbishop to be the kings equall in his owne prouince But how well their dooing herein agreeth with the saieng of Peter examples of the primitiue church it may easilie appéere Some examples also of their demeanor I meane in the time of poperie I will not let to remember least they should saie I speake of malice and without all ground of likelihood Of their practises with meane persons I speake not neither will I begin at Dunstane the author of all their pride and presumption here in England But for somuch as the dealing of Robert the Norman against earle Goodwine is a rare historie and deserueth to be remembred I will touch it in this place protesting to deale withall in more faithfull maner than it hath heretofore beene deliuered vnto vs by the Norman writers or French English who of set purpose haue so defaced earle Goodwine that were it not for the testimonie of one or two méere Englishmen liuing in those daies it should be impossible for me or anie other at this present to declare the truth of that matter according to hir circumstances Marke therefore what I saie For the truth is that such Normans as came in with Emma in the time of Ethelred and Canutus and the Confessor did fall by sundrie means into such fauor with those princes that the gentlemen did grow to beare great rule in the court and their clearkes to be possessors of the best benefices in the land Hervpon therefore one Robert a iolie ambitious préest gat first to be bishop of London and after the death of Eadsius to be archbishop of Canturburie by the gift of king Edward leauing his former sée to William his countrieman Ulfo also a Norman was preferred to Lincolne and other to other places as the king did thinke conuenient These Norman clerkes and their freends being thus exalted it was not long yer they began to mocke abuse and despise the English and so much the more as they dailie saw themselues to increase in fauour with king Edward who also called diuerse of them to be of his secret councell which did not a litle incense the harts of the English against them A fraie also was made at Douer betwéene the seruants of earle Goodwine and the French whose maisters came ouer to see and salute the king whereof I haue spoken in my Chronologie which so inflamed the minds of the French cleargie and courtiers against the English nobilitie that each part sought for opportunitie of reuenge which yer long tooke hold betwéene them For the said Robert being called to be archbishop of Canturburie was no sooner in possession of his sée than he began to quarrell with earle Goodwine the kings father in law by the mariage of his daughter who also was readie to acquit his demeanor with like malice and so the mischiefe begun Herevpon therefore the archbishop charged the earle with the murther of Alfred the kings brother whom not he but Harald the sonne of Canutus and the Danes had cruellie made awaie For Alfred and his brother comming into the land with fiue and twentie saile vpon the death of Canutus and being landed the Normans that arriued with them giuing out how they came to recouer their right to wit the crowne of England therevnto the vnskilfull yoong gentlemen shewing themselues to like of the rumour that was
not often seene of late yeeres they are like in the next to heare of another grant so that I saie againe they are seldome without the limit of a subsidie Herein also they somewhat find themselues grieued that the laitie may at euerie taxation helpe themselues and so they doo through consideration had of their decaie and hinderance and yet their impouerishment cannot but touch also the parson or vicar vnto whom such libertie is denied as is dailie to be séene in their accompts and tithings Some of them also after the mariages of their children will haue their proportions qualified or by fréendship get themselues quite out of the booke But what stand I vpon these things who haue rather to complaine of the iniurie offered by some of our neighbors of the laitie which dailie indeuor to bring vs also within the compasse of their fifteens or taxes for their owne ease whereas the taxe of the whole realme which is commonlie greater in the champeigne than woodland soile amounteth onelie to 37930 pounds nine pence halfepenie is a burden easie inough to be borne vpon so manie shoulders without the helpe of the cleargie whose tenths and subsidies make vp commonlie a double if not troublesome vnto their aforesaid paiments Sometimes also we are threatned with a Meliùsinquirendum as if our liuings were not racked high inough alreadie But if a man should seeke out where all those church lands which in time past did contribute vnto the old summe required or to be made vp no doubt no small number of the laitie of all states should be contributors also with vs the prince not defrauded of hir expectation and right We are also charged with armor munitions from thirtie pounds vpwards a thing more néedfull than diuerse other charges imposed vpon vs are conuenient by which other burdens our case groweth to be more heauie by a great deale notwithstanding our immunitie from temporall seruices than that of the laitie and for ought that I sée not likelie to be diminished as if the church were now become the asse whereon euerie market man is to ride and cast his wallet The other paiments due vnto the archbishop and bishop at their seuerall visitations of which the first is double to the latter and such also as the archdeacon receiueth at his synods c remaine still as they did without anie alteration onelie this I thinke be added within memorie of man that at the comming of euerie prince his appointed officers doo commonlie visit the whole realme vnder the forme of an ecclesiasticall inquisition in which the clergie doo vsuallie paie double fées as vnto the archbishop Hereby then and by those alreadie remembred it is found that the church of England is no lesse commodious to the princes coffers than the state of the laitie if it doo not farre exceed the same since their paiments are certeine continuall and seldome abated howsoeuer they gather vp their owne duties with grudging murmuring sute and slanderous speeches of the paiers or haue their liuings otherwise hardlie valued vnto the vttermost farding or shrewdlie cancelled by the couetousnesse of the patrones of whome some doo bestow aduousons of benefices vpon their bakers butlers cookes good archers falconers and horssekéepers in sted of other recompense for their long and faithfull seruice which they imploie afterward vnto their most aduantage Certes here they resemble the pope verie much for as he sendeth out his idols so doo they their parasites pages chamberleins stewards groomes lackies and yet these be the men that first exclame of the insufficiencie of the ministers as hoping thereby in due time to get also their glebes and grounds into their hands In times past bishopriks went almost after the same maner vnder the laie princes and then vnder the pope so that he which helped a clerke vnto a see was sure to haue a present or purse fine if not an annuall pension besides that which went to the popes coffers and was thought to be verie good merchandize Hereof one example may be touched as of a thing doone in my yoonger daies whilest quéene Marie bare the swaie and gouerned in this land After the death of Stephan Gardiner the sée of Winchester was void for a season during which time cardinall Poole made seizure vpon the reuenues and commodities of the same pretending authoritie therevnto Sede vacante by vertue of his place With this act of his the bishop of Lincolne called White tooke such displeasure that he stepped in like a mate with full purpose as he said to kéepe that sée from ruine He wrote also to Paulus the fourth pope requiring that he might be preferred therevnto promising so as he might be Compos voti to paie to the popes coffers 1600 pounds yearlie during his naturall life and for one yeere after But the pope nothing liking of his motion and yet desirous to reape a further benefit first shewed himselfe to stomach his simonicall practise verie grieuouslie considering the dangerousnesse of the time and present estate of the church of England which hoong as yet in balance readie to yéeld anie waie sauing foorth right as he alledged in his letters By which replie he so terrified the poore bishop that he was driuen vnto another issue I meane to recouer the popes good will with a further summe than stood with his ease to part withall In the end when the pope had gotten this fleece a new deuise was found and meanes made to and by the prince that White might be bishop of Winchester which at the last he obteined but in such wise as that the pope and his néerest friends did lose but a little by it I could if néed were set downe a report of diuerse other the like practises but this shall suffice in stéed of all the rest least in reprehending of vice I might shew my selfe to be a teacher of vngodlinesse or to scatter more vngratious séed in lewd ground alreadie choked with wickednesse To procéed therefore with the rest I thinke it good also to remember that the names vsuallie giuen vnto such as féed the flocke remaine in like sort as in times past so that these words parson vicar curat and such are not yet abolished more than the canon law it selfe which is dailie pleaded as I haue said elsewhere although the statutes of the realme haue greatlie infringed the large scope and brought the exercise of the same into some narrower limits There is nothing read in our churches but the canonicall scriptures whereby it commeth to passe that the psalter is said ouer once in thirtie daies the new testament foure times and the old testament once in the yeare And herevnto if the curat be adiudged by the bishop or his deputies sufficientlie instructed in the holie scriptures and therewithall able to teach he permitteth him to make some exposition or exhortation in his parish vnto amendment of life And for so much as our churches and vniuersities haue béene so spoiled in time
alienation 1800 ducats at the least but in my time it paieth vnto hir maiesties cofers 768 pounds ten shillings ten pence halfe penie farthing In this sée there was a bishop sometime called Iohn Bruton vpon whome the king then reigning by likelihood for want of competent maintenance bestowed the keeping of his wardrobe which he held long time with great honour as his register saith A woonderfull preferment that bishops should be preferred from the pulpit to the custodie of wardrobes but such was the time Neuerthelesse his honorable custodie of that charge is more solemnlie remembred than anie good sermon that euer he made which function peraduenture he committed to his suffragane sith bishops in those daies had so much businesse in the court that they could not attend to doctrine and exhortation Lichefield wherevnto Couentrie was added in the time of Henrie the first at the earnest sute of Robert bishop of that see hath Staffordshire Darbishire part of Shropshire and the rest of Warwikeshire that is void of subiection to the sée of Worcestershire It was erected in the time of Peada king of the south Mercians which laie on this side the Trent and therein one Dinas was installed about the yeare of Grace 656 after whom Kellac first then Tunher an Englishman succéeded this later being well learned and consecrated by the Scots In the time of the bastard I wot not vpon what occasion one Peter bishop of this sée translated his chaire to Chester and there held it for a season whereby it came to passe that the bishops of Lichfield were for a while called bishops of Chester But Robert his successor not likeing of this president remooued his chaire from Chester to Couentrie and there held it whilest he liued whereby the originall diuision of the bishoprike of Lichfield into Lichefield Chester and Couentrie dooth easilie appeare although in my time Lichfield and Couentrie be vnited and Chester remaineth a bishoprike by it selfe It paid the pope at euerie alienation 1733 florens or as some old bookes haue 3000 a good round summe but not without a iust punishment as one saith sith that anno 765 Edulfe bishop there vnder Offa king of Mercia would by his helpe haue bereaued the archbishop of Canturburie of his pall so did in déed vnder pope Hadrian holding the same vntill things were reduced vnto their ancient forme Before the time also of bishop Langton the prebends of this see laie here and there abroad in the citie where the vicars also had an house of which this honest bishop misliked not a little for sundrie causes wherefore he began their close and bestowed so much in building the same and pauing the stréets that his hungrie kinsmen did not a little grudge at his expenses thinking that his emptie cofers would neuer make them gentlemen for which preferment the freends of most bishops gaped earnestlie in those daies King Iohn was the greatest benefactor vnto this sée next vnto Offa and it is called Lichfield Quasi mortuorum campus bicause of the great slaughter of christians made there as some write vnder Dioclesian Howbeit in my time the valuation thereof is 703 pounds fiue shillings two pence halfepenie farthing a summe verie narrowlie cast by that auditor which tooke it first in hand Oxford hath Oxfordshire onelie a verie yoong iurisdiction erected by king Henrie the eight where in the time of quéene Marie one Goldwell was bishop who as I remember was a Iesuit dwelling in Rome and more conuersant as the constant fame went in the blacke art than skilfull in the scriptures and yet he was of great countenance amongst the Romane monarchs It is said that obseruing the canons of his order he regarded not the temporalities of that sée but I haue heard since that he wist well inough what became of those commodities for by one meane and other he found the swéetnesse of 354 pounds sixtéene shillings thrée pence halfe penie yearelie growing to him which was euen inough if not too much for the maintenance of a frier toward the drawing out of circles characters lineaments of imagerie wherein he was passing skilfull as the fame then went in Rome and not vnheard of in Oxford Elie hath Cambridgshire and the I le of Elie. It was erected 1109 by Henrie the first being before a rich and wealthie abbeie One Heruie also was made bishop there as I haue found in a register belonging sometime to that house being translated from Bangor Finallie it paid to the pope at euerie alienation 7000 ducats as the registers there do testifie at large Albeit that in my time I find a note of 2134 pounds sixteene shillings thrée pence halfe penie farthing whose disme ioined to those of all the bishopriks in England doo yéeld yearelie to hir maiesties coffers 23370 pounds sixtéene shillings thrée pence halfe penie farthing whereby also the huge sums of monie going out of this land to the court of Rome dooth in some measure appéere Ethelwold afterward bishop of Winchester builded the first monasterie of Elie vpon the ruines of a nunrie then in the kings hands howbeit the same house whereof he himselfe was abbat was yer long destroied by enimies and he in lieu of his old preferment rewarded by king Edgar with the aforesaid bishoprike from whence with more than lionlike boldnesse he expelled the secular préests and stored with moonkes prouided from Abandune néere Oxford by the helpe of Edgar and Dunstane then metropolitane of England There was sometime a greeuous contention betwéene Thomas Lild bishop of this see and the king of England about the yeare of Grace 1355 which I will here deliuer out of an old record because the matter is so parciallie penned by some of the brethren of that house in fauour of the bishop for that I was also abused with the same in the entrance thereof at the first into my chronologie The blacke prince fauoring one Robert Stretton his chapleine a man vnlearned and not worthie the name of a clearke the matter went on so farre that what for loue and somewhat else of a canon of Lichfield he was chosen bishop of that see Herevpon the pope vnderstanding what he was by his Nuncio here in England staied his consecration by his letters for a time and in the meane season committed his examination to the archbishop of Canturburie and the bishop of Rochester who felt and dealt so fauourablie with him in golden reasoning that his worthinesse was commended to the popes holinesse to Rome he goeth Being come to Rome the pope himselfe apposed him and after secret conference vtterlie disableth his election till he had prooued by substantiall argument and of great weight before him also that he was not so lightlie to be reiected Which kind of reasoning so well pleased his holinesse that Ex mera plenitudine potestatis he was made capable of the benefice and so returneth into England when he came home this bishop being in the kings
I haue seene and had an ancient iarror of the lands of this monasterie which agréeth verie well with the historie of Hugo le Blanc monke of that house In the charter also of donation annexed to the same I saw one of Wulfhere king of Mercia signed with his owne the marks of Sigher king of Sussex Sebbie of Essex with the additions of their names the rest of the witnesses also insued in this order Ethelred brother to Wulfehere Kindburg and Kindswith sisters to Wulfhere Deusdedit archbishop Ithamar bishop of Rochester Wina bishop of London Iarnman bishop of Mearc Wilfride and Eoppa préests Saxulfe the abbat Then all the earles and eldermen of England in order and after all these the name of pope Agatho who confirmed the instrument at the sute of Wilfride archbishop of Yorke in a councell holden at Rome 680 of a hundred fiue and twentie bishops wherein also these churches were appropriated to the said monasterie to wit Breding Reping Cedenac Swinesheued Lusgerd Edelminglond and Barchaing whereby we haue in part an euident testimonie how long the practise of appropriation of benefices hath béene vsed to the hinderance of the gospell and maintenance of idle moonks an humane inuention grounded vpon hypocrisie Bristow hath Dorsetshire sometime belonging to Salisburie a sée also latelie erected by king Henrie the eight who tooke no small care for the church of Christ and therefore eased a number of ancient sées of some part of their huge and ouer-large circuits and bestowed those portions deducted vpon such other erections as he had appointed for the better regiment and féeding of the flocke the value thereof is thrée hundred foure score and thrée pounds eight shillings and foure pence as I haue béene informed Lincolne of all other of late times was the greatest and albeit that out of it were taken the sees of Oxford and Peterborow yet it still reteineth Lincolne Leicester Huntingdon Bedford Buckingham shires and the rest of Hertford so that it extendeth from the Thames vnto the Humber and paid vnto the pope fiue thousand ducats as appeereth by his note at euerie alienation In my time and by reason of hir diminution it yéeldeth a tribute to whom tribute belongeth of the valuation of eight hundred ninetie and nine pounds eight shillings seauen pence farthing It began since the conquest about the beginning of William Rufus by one Remigius who remooued his sée from Dorchester to Lincolne not without licence well paid for vnto the king And thus much of the bishopriks which lie within Lhoegres or England as it was left vnto Locrinus Now it followeth that I procéed with Wales Landaffe or the church of Taw hath ecclesiasticall iurisdiction in Glamorgan Monmouth Brechnoch and Radnor shires And although it paid seuen hundred ducats at euerie exchange of prelat yet is it scarselie worth one hundred fiftie and fiue pounds by the yeare as I haue heard reported Certes it is a poore bishoprike as I haue heard the late incumbent thereof being called for not long since by the lord president in open court made answer The daffe is here but the land is gone What he meant by it I can not well tell but I hope that in the séed time and the frée planting of the gospell the meate of the labourer shall not be diminished and withdrawen S. Dauids hath Penbroke and Caermardine shires whose liuerie or first fruits to the sée of Rome was one thousand and fiue hundred ducats at the hardest as I thinke For if record be of anie sufficient credit it is little aboue the value of foure hundred fiftie and seauen pounds one shilling and ten pence farthing in our time and so it paieth vnto hir maiesties coffers but in time past I thinke it was farre better The present bishop misliketh verie much of the cold situation of his cathedrall church and therfore he would gladlie pull it downe and set it in a warmer place but it would first be learned what suertie he would put in to sée it well performed of the rest I speake not Bangor is in north-Wales and hath Caernaruon Angleseie and Merioneth shires vnder hir iurisdiction It paid to Rome 126 ducats which is verie much For of all the bishoprikes in England it is now the least for reuenues and not woorth aboue one hundred and one and thirtie pounds and sixtéene pence to hir maiesties coffers at euerie alienation as appéereth by the tenths which amount to much lesse thair of some good benefice for it yeeldeth not yéerelie aboue thirtéene pounds thrée shillings and seauen pence halfe penie as by that court is manifest S. Asaphes hath Prestholme and part of Denbigh and Flintshires vnder hir iurisdiction in causes ecclesiasticall which being laid togither doo amount to little more than one good countie and therefore in respect of circuit the least that is to be found in Wales neuerthelesse it paid to Rome 470 ducates at euerie alienation In my time the first fruits of this bishoprike came vnto 187 pounds eleuen shillings six pence wherby it séemeth to be somewhat better than Laâ—daffe or Bangor last remembred There is one Howell a gentleman of Flintshire in the compasse of this iurisdiction who is bound to giue an harpe of siluer yearelie to the best harper in Wales but did anie bishop thinke you deserue that in the popish time Howell or Aphowell in English is all one as I haue heard and signifie so much as Hugo or Hugh Hitherto of the prouince of Canturburie for so much therof as now lieth within the compasse of this Iland Now it resteth that I procéed with the curtailed archbishoprike of Yorke I saie curtailed because all Scotland is cut from his iurisdiction and obedience The see of Yorke was restored about the yeare of Grace 625 which after the comming of the Saxons laie desolate and neglected howbeit at the said time Iustus archbishop of Canturburie ordeined Paulinus to be first bishop there in the time of Eadwâ—jn king of Northumberland This Paulinus sate six yeares yer he was driuen from thence after whose expulsion that seat was void long time wherby Lindeffarne grew into credit and so remained vntill the daies of Oswie of Northumberland who sent Wilfred the priest ouer into France there to be consecrated archbishop of Yorke but whilest he taried ouer long in those parts Oswie impatient of delaie preferred Ceadda or Chad to that roome who held it three yeares which being expired Wilfred recouered his roome and held it as he might vntill it was seuered in two to wit Yorke Hagulstade or Lindâ—ffarne where Eata was placed at which time also Egfride was made bishop of Lincolne or Lindsie in that part of Mercia which he had goten from Woolfhere Of it selfe it hath now iurisdiction ouer Yorkeshire Notinghamshire whose shire towne I meane the new part thereof with the bridge was builded by king Edward the first surnamed the elder before the conquest and the rest of
persons called pledges as I said or ten denaries or tithings of men of which ech one was bound for others good abering and laudable behauiour in the common-wealth of the realme The chiefe man likewise of euerie denarie or tithing was in those daies called a tithing man in Latine Decurio but now in most places a borsholder or burgholder as in Kent where euerie tithing is moreouer named a burgh or burrow although that in the West countrie he be still called a tithing man and his circuit a tithing as I haue heard at large I read furthermore and it is partlie afore noted that the said Alfred caused ech man of frée condition for the better maintenance of his peace to be ascribed into some hundred by placing himselfe in one denarie or other where he might alwais haue such as should sweare or saie vpon their certeine knowledge for his honest behauior and ciuill conuersation if it should happen at anie time that his credit should come in question In like sort I gather out of Leland and other that if anie small matter did fall out worthie to be discussed the tithing man or borsholder now officers at the commandement of the high constable of which euerie hundred hath one at the least should decide the same in their léetes whereas the great causes were referred to the hundreds the greater to the lathes and the greatest of all to the shire daies where the earles or aldermen did set themselues make finall ends of the same according vnto iustice For this purpose likewise in euerie hundred were twelue men chosen of good age and wisedome and those sworne to giue their sentences without respect of person and in this manner as they gather were things handeled in those daies Which waie the word wapentake came in vse as yet I cannot tell howbeit the signification of the same declareth as I conceiue that at the chiefe towne the soldiers which were to serue in that hundred did méet fetch their weapons go togither from thence to the field or place of seruice by an ordinarie custome then generallie knowen amongst them It is supposed also that the word Rape commeth a Rapiendo as it were of catching and snatching bicause the tenants of the hundred or wapentakes met vpon one or sundrie daies made quicke dispatch of their lords haruest at once and in great hast But whether it be a true imagination or not as yet I am vncerteine and therefore it lieth not in me to determine anie thing thereof wherefore it shall suffice to haue touched them in this maner In my time there are found to be in England fourtie shires and likewise thirtéene in Wales and these latter erected of late yeares by king Henrie the eight who made the Britons or Welshmen equall in all respects vnto the English and brought to passe that both nations should indifferentlie be gouerned by one law which in times past were ordred by diuerse and those far discrepant and disagreing one from another as by the seuerall view of the same is yet easie to be discerned The names of the shires in England are these whereof the first ten lie betwéene the British sea and the Thames as Polydor also dooth set them downe Kent Sussex Surreie Hampshire Barkeshire Wilshire Dorsetshire Summerset Deuon Cornewall There are moreouer on the northside of the Thames and betwéene the same and the riuer Trent which passeth through the middest of England as Polydor saith sixtéene other shires whereof six lie toward the east the rest toward the west more into the mddest of the countrie Essex somtime all forrest saue one hundred Middlesex Hartfordshire Suffolke Norffolke Cambridgeshire in which are 12 hundreds Bedford Huntington wher in are foure hundreds Buckingham Oxford Northampton Rutland Leircestershire Notinghamshire Warwike Lincolne We haue six also that haue their place westward towards Wales whose names insue Glocester Hereford Worcester Shropshire Stafford Chestershire And these are the thirtie two shires which lie by south of the Trent Beyond the same riuer we haue in like sort other eight as Darbie Yorke Lancaster Cumberland Westmerland Richemond wherein are fiue wapentaxes when it is accompted as parcell of Yorkeshire out of which it is taken then is it reputed for the whole Riding Durham Northumberland So that in the portion sometime called Lhoegres there are now fortie shires In Wales furthermore are thirtéene whereof seuen are in Southwales Cardigan or Cereticon Penmoroke or Penbrooke Caermardine wherein are 9. hundreds or commots Glamorgan Monmouth Breckenocke Radnor In Northwales likewise are six that is to saie Angleseie Carnaruon Merioneth Denbigh Flint Montgomerie Which being added to those of England yéeld fiftie and thrée shires or counties so that vnder the quéenes Maiestie are so manie counties whereby it is easilie discerned that hir power farre excéedeth that of Offa who of old time was highlie honored for that he had so much of Britaine vnder his subiection as afterward conteined thirtie nine shires when the diuision was made whereof I spake before This is moreouer to be noted in our diuision of shires that they be not alwaies counted or laid togither in one parcell whereof I haue great maruell But sith the occasiō hath growen as I take it either by priuiledge or some like occasion it is better briefelie to set downe how some of these parts lie than to spend the time in séeking a iust cause of this their od diuision First therefore I note that in the part of Buckinghamshire betweene Amondesham Beconsfield there is a peece of Hartfordshire to be found inuironed round about with the countie of Buckingham and yet this patch is not aboue three miles in length and two in breadth at the verie most In Barkeshire also betwéene Ruscombe and Okingham is a péece of Wilshire one mile in breadth and foure miles in length whereof one side lieth on the Loden riuer In the borders of Northamptonshire directlie ouer against Luffeld a towne in Buckkinghamshire I find a parcell of Oxfordshire not passing two miles in compasse With Oxfordshire diuerse doo participate in so much that a péece of Glocestershire lieth halfe in Warwikeshire halfe in Oxfordshire not verie far from Horneton Such another patch is there of Glocestershire not far from long Compton but lieng in Oxford countie a péece of Worcestershire directlie betwéene it Glocestershire Glocester hath the third péece vpon the north side of the Winrush neere Falbrocke as Barkeshire hath one parcell also vpon the selfe side of the same water in the verie edge of Glocestershire likewise an other in Oxfordshire not verie farre from Burford and the third ouer against Lach lade which is parted from the main countie of Barkeshire by a little strake of Oxfordshire Who would thinke that two fragments of Wilshire were to be seene in Barkeshire vpon the Loden and the riuer that falleth into it whereof and the like sith there are verie manie
Romans found out and knew the waie vnto our countrie our predecessors fed largelie vpon flesh and milke whereof there was great aboundance in this I le bicause they applied their chéefe studies vnto pasturage and féeding After this maner also did our Welsh Britons order themselues in their diet so long as they liued of themselues but after they became to be vnited and made equall with the English they framed their appetites to liue after our maner so that at this daie there is verie little difference betwéene vs in our diets In Scotland likewise they haue giuen themselues of late yeares to speake of vnto verie ample and large diet wherein as for some respect nature dooth make them equall with vs so otherwise they far excéed vs in ouer much and distemperate gormandize and so ingrosse their bodies that diuerse of them doo oft become vnapt to anie other purpose than to spend their times in large tabling and bellie chéere Against this pampering of their carcasses dooth Hector Boetius in his description of the countrie verie sharpelie inueigh in the first chapter of that treatise Henrie Wardlaw also bishop of S. Andrewes noting their vehement alteration from competent frugalitie into excessiue gluttonie to be brought out of England with Iames the first who had béene long time prisoner there vnder the fourth fift Henries and at his returne caried diuerse English gentlemen into his countrie with him whome he verie honorablie preferred there dooth vehementlie exclame against the same in open parlement holden at Perth 1433 before the three estats and so bringeth his purpose to passe in the end by force of his learned persuasions that a law was presentlie made there for the restreint of superfluous diâ—t amongest other things baked meats dishes neuer before this mans daies seene in Scotland were generallie so prouided for by vertue of this act that it was not lawfull for anie to eat of the same vnder the degrée of a gentleman and those onelie but on high and festiuall daies but alas it was soone forgotten In old time these north Britons did giue themselues vniuersallie to great abstinence and in time of warres their souldiers would often féed but once or twise at the most in two or thrée daies especiallie if they held themselues in secret or could haue no issue out of their bogges and marises through the presence of the enimie and in this distresse they vsed to eat a certeine kind of confection whereof so much as a beane would qualifie their hunger aboue common expectation In woods moreouer they liued with hearbes and rootes or if these shifts serued not thorough want of such prouision at hand then vsed they to créepe into the water or said moorish plots vp vnto the chins and there remaine a long time onelie to qualifie the heats of their stomachs by violence which otherwise would haue wrought and béene readie to oppresse them for hunger and want of sustinance In those daies likewise it was taken for a great offense ouer all to eat either goose hare or henne bicause of a certeine superstitious opinion which they had conceiued of those three creatures howbeit after that the Romans I saie had once found an entrance into this Iland it was not long yer open shipwracke was made of his religious obseruation so that in processe of time so well the north and south Britons as the Romans gaue ouer to make such difference in meats as they had doone before From thencefoorth also vnto our daies and euen in this season wherein we liue there is no restreint of anie meat either for religions sake or publike order in England but it is lawfull for euerie man to féed vpon what soeuer he is able to purchase except it be vpon those daies whereon eating of flesh is especiallie forbidden by the lawes of the realme which order is taken onelie to the end our numbers of cattell may be the better increased that aboundance of fish which the sea yeeldeth more generallie receiued Beside this there is great consideration had in making of this law for the preseruation of the nauie and maintenance of conuenient numbers of sea faring men both which would otherwise greatlie decaie if some meanes were not found whereby they might be increased But how soeuer this case standeth white meats milke butter cheese which were neuer so deere as in my time and woont to be accounted of as one of the chiefe staies throughout the Iland are now reputed as food appertinent onelie to the inferiour sort whilest such as are more wealthie doo féed vpon the flesh of all kinds of cattell accustomed to be eaten all sorts of fish taken vpon our coasts and in our fresh riuers and such diuersitie of wild and tame foules as are either bred in our Iland or brought ouer vnto vs from other countries of the maine In number of dishes and change of meat the nobilitie of England whose cookes are for the most part musicall headed Frenchmen and strangers doo most exceed sith there is no daie in maner that passeth ouer their heads wherein they haue not onelie béefe mutton veale lambe kid porke conie capon pig or so manie of these as the season yeeldeth but also some portion of the red or fallow déere beside great varietie of fish and wild foule and thereto sundrie other delicates wherein the swéet hand of the seafaring Portingale is not wanting so that for a man to dine with one of them and to tast of euerie dish that standeth before him which few vse to doo but ech one feedeth vpon that meat him best liketh for the time the beginning of euerie dish notwithstanding being reserued vnto the greatest personage that sitteth at the table to whome it is drawen vp still by the waiters as order requireth and from whome it descendeth againe euen to the lower end whereby each one may tast thereof is rather to yéeld vnto a conspiracie with a great deale of meat for the spéedie suppression of naturall health then the vse of a necessarie meane to satisfie himselfe with a competent repast to susteine his bodie withall But as this large feeding is not séene in their gests no more is it in their owne persons for sith they haue dailie much resort vnto their tables and manie times vnlooked for and thereto reteine great numbers of seruants it is verie requisit expedient for them to be somewhat plentifull in this behalfe The chiefe part likewise of their dailie prouision is brought in before them commonlie in siluer vessell if they be of the degrée of barons bishops and vpwards and placed on their tables wherof when they haue taken what it pleaseth them the rest is reserued and afterward sent downe to their seruing men and waiters who féed thereon in like sort with conuenient moderation their reuersion also being bestowed vpon the poore which lie readie at their gates in great numbers to receiue the same This is spoken of the principall tables whereat the nobleman
imagine himselfe to come into some publike schoole of the vniuersities where manie giue eare to one that readeth than into a princes palace if you conferre the same with those of other nations Would to God all honorable personages would take example of hir graces godlie dealing in this behalfe and shew their conformitie vnto these hir so good beginnings which if they would then should manie grieuous offenses wherewith God is highlie displeased be cut off and restreined which now doo reigne excéedinglie in most noble and gentlemens houses wherof they sée no paterne within hir graces gates I might speake here of the great traines and troopes of seruing men also which attend vpon the nobilitie of England in their seuerall liueries and with differences of cognisances on their sléeues whereby it is knowen to whome they apperteine I could also set downe what a goodlie sight it is to sée them muster in the court which being filled with them dooth yéeld the contemplation of a noble varietie vnto the beholder much like to the shew of the pecocks taile in the full beautie or of some medow garnished with infinit kinds and diuersitie of pleasant floures But I passe ouer the rehearsall hereof to other men who more delite in vaine amplification than I and séeke to be more curious in these points than I professe to be The discipline of firme peace also that is mainteined within a certeine compasse of the princes palace is such as is nothing inferiour to that we sée dailie practised in the best gouerned holds fortresses And such is the seuere punishment of those that strike within the limits prohibited that without all hope of mercie benefit of clergie or sanctuarie they are sure to loose their right hands at a stroke and that in verie solemne maner the forme whereof I will set downe and then make an end of this chapter to deale with other matters At such time therefore as the partie transgressing is conuicted by a sufficient inquest impanelled for the same purpose and the time come of the execution of the sentence the sergeant of the kings wood-yard prouideth a square blocke which he bringeth to some appointed place and therewithall a great beetle staple and cords wherewith to fasten the hand of the offendor vnto the said blocke vntill the whole circumstance of his execution be performed The yeoman of the scullarie likewise for the time being dooth prouide a great fire of coales hard by the blocke wherein the fearing irons are to be made readie against the chiefe surgeon to the prince or his deputie shall occupie the same Upon him also dooth the sergeant or chiefe farrour attend with those irons whose office is to deliuer them to the said surgeon when he shall be redie by searing to vse the same The groome of the salarie for the time being or his deputie is furthermore appointed to be readie with vineger and cold water and not to depart from the place vntill the arme of the offendor be bound vp and fullie dressed And as these things are thus prouided so the sergeant surgeon is bound from time to time to be readie to execute his charge and seare the stumpe when the hand is taken from it The sergeant of the cellar is at hand also with a cup of red wine and likewise the chiefe officer of the pantrie with manchet bread to giue vnto the said partie after the execution doone and the stumpe seared as the sergeant of the ewerie is with clothes wherein to wind and wrap vp the arme the yeoman of the poultrie with a cocke to laie vnto it the yeoman of the chandrie with seared cloths and finallie the maister cooke or his deputie with a sharpe dressing knife which he deliuereth at the place of execution to the sergeant of the larder who dooth hold it vpright in his hand vntill the execution be performed by the publike officer appointed therevnto And this is the maner of punishment ordeined for those that strike within the princes palace or limits of the same Which should first haue beene executed on sir Edmund Kneuet in the yeare 1541. But when he had made great sute to saue his right hand for the further seruice of the king in his warres and willinglie yeelded to forgo his left in the end the king pardoned him of both to no small benefit of the offendor and publication of the bountifull nature that remained in the prince The like priuilege almost is giuen to churches and churchyards although in maner of punishment great difference doo appeere For he that bralleth or quarelleth in either of them is by and by suspended Abingressu ecclesiae vntill he be absolued as he is also that striketh with the fist or laieth violent hands vpon anie whome so euer But if he happen to smite with staffe dagger or anie maner of weapon the same be sufficientlie found by the verdict of twelue men at his arrainement beside excommunication he is sure to loose one of his eares without all hope of release But if he be such a one as hath beene twise condemned and executed whereby he hath now none eares then is he marked with an hot iron vpon the chéeke and by the letter F which is seared déepe into his slesh he is from thencefoorth noted as a common barratour and fraie maker and therevnto remaineth excommunicate till by repentance he deserue to be absolued To strike a clearke also that is to saie a minister is plaine excommunication and the offendor not to be absolued but by the prince or his especiall cōmission Such also is the generall estate of the excōmunicate in euery respect that he can yéeld not testimonie in anie matter so long as he so standeth No bargaine or sale that he maketh is auaileable in law neither any of his acts whatsoeuer pleadable wherby he liueth as an outlaw a man altogither out of the princes protection although it be not lawfull to kill him nor anie man otherwise outlawed without the danger of fellonie Of armour and munition Chap. 16. HOw well or how stronglie our countrie hath beene furnished in times past with armor and artillerie it lieth not in me as of my selfe to make rehersall Yet that it lacked both in the late time of quéen Marie not onlie the experience of mine elders but also the talke of certeine Spaniards not yet forgotten did leaue some manifest notice Upon the first I néed not stand for few will denie it For the second I haue heard that when one of the greatest péeres of Spaine espied our nakednesse in this behalfe and did solemnelie vtter in no obscure place that it should be an easie matter in short time to conquer England bicause it wanted armor his words were then not so rashlie vttered as they were politikelie noted For albeit that for the present time their efficacie was dissembled and femblance made as though he spake but merilie yet at the verie enterance of this our gratious quéene
vnto the possession of the crowne they were so prouidentlie called to remembrance and such spéedie reformation sought of all hands for the redresse of this inconuenience that our countrie was sooner furnished with armour and munition from diuerse parts of the maine beside great plentie that was forged here at home than our enimies could get vnderstanding of anie such prouision to be made By this policie also was the no small hope conceiued by Spaniards vtterlie cut off who of open fréends being now become our secret enimies and thereto watching a time wherein to atchieue some heauie exploit against vs and our countrie did there vpon change their purposes whereby England obteined rest that otherwise might haue béene sure of sharpe and cruell wars Thus a Spanish word vttered by one man at one time ouerthrew or at the least wise hindered sundrie priuie practises of manie at another In times past the chéefe force of England consisted in their long bowes But now we haue in maner generallie giuen ouer that kind of artillerie and for long bowes in déed doo practise to shoot compasse for our pastime which kind of shooting can neuer yéeld anie smart stroke nor beat downe our enimies as our countrie men were woont to doo at euerie time of néed Certes the Frenchmen and Rutters deriding our new archerie in respect of their corslets will not let in open skirmish if anie leisure serue to turne vp their tailes and crie Shoote English and all bicause our strong shooting is decaied and laid in bed But if some of our Englishmen now liued that serued king Edward the third in his warres with France the bréech of such a varlet should haue beene nailed to his bum with one arrow and an other fethered in his bowels before he should haue turned about to sée who shot the first But as our shooting is thus in manner vtterlie decaied among vs one waie so our countrie men wex skilfull in sundrie other points as in shooting in small péeces the caliuer and handling of the pike in the seuerall vses whereof they are become verie expert Our armour differeth not from that of other nations and therefore consisteth of corslets almaiâ—e riuets shirts of maile iackes quilted and couered ouer with leather fustian or canuas ouer thicke plates of iron that are sowed in the same of which there is no towne or village that hath not hir conuenient furniture The said armour and munition likewise is kept in one seuerall place of euerie towne appointed by the consent of the whole parish where it is alwaies readie to be had and worne within an houres warning Sometime also it is occupied when it pleaseth the magistrate either to view the able men take note of the well kéeping of the same or finallie to sée those that are inrolled to exercise each one his seuerall weapon at the charge of the townesmen of each parish according to his appointment Certes there is almost no village so poore in England be it neuer so small that hath not sufficient furniture in a readinesse to set foorth thrée or foure soldiors as one archer one gunner one pike a bilman at the least No there is not so much wanting as their verie liueries and caps which are least to be accounted of if anie hast required so that if this good order may continue it shall be vnpossible for the sudden enimie to find vs vnprouided As for able men for seruice thanked be God we are not without good store for by the musters taken 1574 and 1575 our number amounted to 1172674 and yet were they not so narrowlie taken but that a third part of this like multitude was left vnbilled and vncalled What store of munition and armour the quéenes maiestie hath in hir store-houses it lieth not in me to yéeld account sith I suppose the same to be infinit And whereas it was commonlie said after the losse of Calis that England should neuer recouer the store of ordinance there lest and lost that same is at this time prooued false sith euen some of the same persons doo now confesse that this land was neuer better furnished with these things in anie kings daies that reigned since the conquest The names of our greatest ordinance are commonlie these Robinet whose weight is two hundred pounds and it hath one inch and a quarter within the mouth Falconet weigheth fiue hundred pounds and his widenesse is two inches within the mouth Falcon hath eight hundred pounds and two inches and a halfe within the mouth Minion poiseth eleauen hundred pounds and hath thrée inches and a quarter within the mouth Sacre hath fiftéene hundred poundes and is three inches and a halfe wide in the mouth Demie Culuerijn weigheth three thousand pounds and hath foure inches and a halfe within the mouth Culuerijn hath foure thousand pounds and fiue inches and an halfe within the mouth Demie Canon six thousand pounds and six inches and an halfe within the mouth Canon seauen thousand pounds and eight inches within the mouth E. Canon eight thousand pounds and seauen inches within the mouth Basiliske 9000 pounds eight inches and thrée quarters within the mouth By which proportions also it is easie to come by the weight of euerie shot how manie scores it doth flée at point blanke how much pouder is to be had to the same finallie how manie inches in height ech bullet ought to carrie The names of the greatest ordinance  Weight of the shot Scores of cariage Pounds of pouder Height of bullet Robinet hath 1. li. 0 ½ 1 Falconet 2. li. 14 2 1 2 4 Falcon. 2. ½ 16 2 ½ 2 ¼ Minion 4. ½ 17 4 ½ 3 Sacre 5 18 5 3 ¼ Demie Culuerijn 9 20 9 4 Culuerijn 18 25 18 5 ¼ Demie canon 30 38 28 6 ¼ Canon 60 20 44 7 ¾ E. Canon 42 20 20 6 ¾ Basiliske 60 21 60 8 ¼ I might here take iust occasion to speake of the princes armories But what shall it néed sith the whole realme is hir armorie and therefore hir furniture infinit The Turke had one gun made by one Orban a Dane the caster of his ordinance which could not be drawen to the siege of Constantinople but by seauentie yokes of oxen and two thousand men he had two other there also whose shot poised aboue two talents in weight made by the same Orban But to procéed As for the armories of some of the nobilitie whereof I also haue séene a part they are so well furnished that within some one barons custodie I haue séene thrée score or a hundred corslets at once beside caliuers handguns bowes sheffes of arrowes pikes bils polaxes flaskes touchboxes targets c the verie sight wherof appalled my courage What would the wearing of some of them doo then trow you if I should be inforced to vse one of them in the field But thanked be God our peaceable daies are such as no man hath anie great cause to occupie them at all but
quarters by which shift onelie the people came by small monies as halfe pence and fardings that otherwise were not stamped nor coined of set purpose Of forren coines we haue all the ducats the single double and the double double the crusadoes with the long crosse and the short the portigue a péece verie solemnelie kept of diuerse yet oft times abased with washing or absolutelie counterfeited and finallie the French and Flemish crownes onlie currant among vs so long as they hold weight But of siluer coines as the soules turnois whereof ten make a shilling as the franke dooth two shillings and thrée franks the French crowne c we haue none at all yet are the dalders and such often times brought ouer but neuerthelesse exchanged as bullion according to their finenesse and weight and afterward conuerted into coine by such as haue authoritie In old time we had sundrie mints in England and those commonlie kept in abbaies and religious houses before the conquest where true dealing was commonlie supposed most of all to dwell as at Ramseie S. Edmundsburie Canturburie Glassenburie Peterborow and such like sundrie exemplificats of the grants whereof are yet to be seene in writing especiallie that of Peterborow vnder the confirmation of pope Eugenius wherevnto it appeereth further by a charter of king Edgar which I haue that they either held it or had another in Stanford But after the Normans had once gotten the kingdome into their fingers they trusted themselues best with the ouersight of their mints and therefore erected diuerse of their owne although they afterward permitted some for small péeces of siluer vnto sundrie of the houses aforesaid In my time diuerse mints are suppressed as Southwarke Bristow c and all coinage is brought into one place that is to saie the Tower of London where it is continuallie holden and perused but not without great gaine to such as deale withall There is also coinage of tin holden yearelie at two seuerall times that is to saie Midsummer and Michaelmas in the west countrie which at the first hearing I supposed to haue béene of monie of the said mettall and granted by priuilege from some prince vnto the towns of Hailestone Trurie and Lostwithiell Howbeit vpon further examination of the matter I find it to be nothing so but an office onlie erected for the prince wherin he is allowed the ordinarie customes of that mettall and such blocks of tin as haue passed the hands of his officers are marked with an especiall stampe whereby it is knowne that the custome due for the same hath ordinarilie béene answered It should séeme and in my opinion is verie likelie to be true that while the Romans reigned here Kingstone vpon Thames sometime a right noble citie and place where the Saxon kings were vsuallie crowned was the chiefe place of their coinage for this prouince For in earing of the ground about that towne in times past and now of late besides the curious foundation of manie goodlie buildings that haue béene ripped vp by plowes and diuerse coines of brasse siluer and gold with Romane letters in painted pots found there in the daies of cardinall Woolseie one such huge pot was discouered full as it were of new siluer latelie coined another with plates of siluer readie to be coined and the third with chaines of siluer and such broken stuffe redie as it should appeere to be melted into coinage whereof let this suffice to countenance out my coniecture Of coins currant before the comming of the Romans I haue elsewhere declared that there were none at all in Britaine but as the Ilanders of Scylira the old Romans Armenians Scythians Seritans Sarmatians Indians and Essences did barter ware for ware so the Britons vsed brasse or rings of iron brought vnto a certeine proportion in steed of monie as the Lacedemonians Bisantines also did the Achiui as Homer writeth who had saith he rough peeces of brasse and iron in stéed of coine wherewith they purchased their wines The contents of the third booke 1 Of cattell kept for profit 2 Of wild and tame foules 3 Of fish vsuallie taken vp on our coasts 4 Of sauage beasts and vermines 5 Of hawkes and rauenous foules 6 Of venemous beasts 7 Of our English dogs and their qualities 8 Of our saffron and the dressing thereof 9 Of quarries of stone for building 10 Of sundrie minerals 11 Of mettals to be had in our land 12 Of pretious stones 13 Of salt made in England 14 Of our accompt of time and hir parts 15 Of principall faires and markets 16 Of our innes and thorowfaires Of cattell kept for profit Chap. 1. THere is no kind of tame cattell vsually to be séene in these parts of the world wherof we haue not some and that great store in England as horsses oxen shéepe goats swine and far surmounting the like in other countries as may be prooued with ease For where are oxen commonlie more large of bone horsses more decent and pleasant in pase kine more commodious for the pale shéepe more profitable for wooll swine more wholesome of flesh and goates more gainefull to their kéepers than here with vs in England But to speke of them peculiarlie I suppose that our kine are so abundant in yéeld of milke wherof we make our butter chéese as the like anie where else and so apt for the plough in diuerse places as either our horsses or oxen And albeit they now and then twin yet herein they séeme to come short of that commoditle which is looked for in other countries to wit in that they bring foorth most commonlie but one calfe at once The gaines also gotten by a cow all charges borne hath beene valued at twentie shillings yearelie but now as land is inhanced this proportion of gaine is much abated and likelie to decaie more and more if ground arise to be yet déerer which God forbid if it be his will and pleasure I heard of late of a cow in Warwikshire belonging to Thomas Bruer of Studleie which in six yéeres had sixtéene calfes that is foure at once in three caluings and twise twins which vnto manie may séeme a thing incredible In like maner our oxen are such as the like are not to be found in anie countrie of Europe both for greatnesse of bodie and swéetnesse of flesh or else would not the Romane writers haue preferred them before those of Liguria In most places our grasiers are now growen to be so cunning that if they doo but sée an ox or bullocke and come to the féeling of him they will giue a ghesse at his weight and how manie score or stone of flesh and tallow he beareth how the butcher may liue by the sale and what he may haue for the skin and tallow which is a point of skill not commonlie practised heretofore Some such grasiers also are reported to ride with veluet coats and chaines of gold about them and in their absence their wiues will not let
Moreouer fortie of their ships or rather as some write 45 were reteined to serue the king promising to defend the realme with condition that the souldiers and mariners should haue prouision of meate and drinke with apparell found them at the kings charges As one autor hath gathered Swaine king of Denmarke was in England at the concluding of this peace which being confirmed with solemne othes and sufficient hostages he departed into Denmarke The same author bringeth the generall slaughter of Danes vpon S. Brices day to haue chanced in the yéere after the conclusion of this agréement that is to say in the yéere 1012 at what time Gunthildis the sister of king Swaine was slaine with hir husband hir sonne by the commandement of the false traitor Edrike But bicause all other authors agrée that the same murther of Danes was executed about ten yéeres before this supposed time we haue made rehearsall thereof in that place Howbeit for the death of Gunthildis it maie be that she became hostage either in the yéere 1007 at what time king Egelred paied thirtie thousand pounds vnto king Swaine to haue peace as before you haue heard or else might she be deliuered in hostage in the yéere 1011 when the last agréement was made with the Danes as aboue is mentioned But when or at what time soeuer she became hostage this we find of hir that she came hither into England with hir husband Palingus a mightie earle and receiued baptisme héere Wherevpon she earnestlie trauelled in treatie of a peace betwixt hir brother and king Egelred which being brought to passe chieflie by hir sute she was contented to become an hostage for performance thereof as before is recited And after by the commandement of earle Edrike she was put to death pronouncing that the shedding of hir bloud would cause all England one day sore to rue She was a verie beautifull ladie and tooke hir death without all feare not once changing countenance though she saw hir husband and hir onelie sonne a yoong gentleman of much towardnesse first murthered before hir face Turkillus the Danish capteine telleth king Swaine the faults of the king nobles commons of this realme he inuadeth England the Northumbers and others submit themselues to him Danes receiued into seruice vnder Egelred London assalted by Swaine the citizens behaue themselues stoutlie and giue the Danish host a shamefull repulse Ethelmere earle of Deuonshire and his people submit themselues to Swaine he returneth into Denmarke commeth back againe into England with a fresh power is incountred withall of the Englishmen whose king Egelred is discomfited his oration to his souldiers touching the present reliefe of their distressed land their resolution and full purpose in this their perplexitie king Egrlred is minded to giue place to Swaine lie sendeth his wife and children ouer into Normandie the Londoners yeeld vp their state to Swaine Egelred saileth ouer into Normandie leauing his land to the enimie The sixt Chapter NOw had Turkillus in the meane time aduertised king Swaine in what state things stood here within the realme how king Egelred was negligent onlie attending to the lusts pleasures of the flesh how the noble men were vnfaithfull and the commons weake and féeble through want to good and trustie leaders Howbeit some write that Turkillus as well as other of the Danes which remained héere in England was in league with king Egelred in somuch that he was with him in London to helpe and defend the citie against Swaine when he came to assalt it as after shall appéere Which if it be true a doubt may rise whether Swaine receiued anie aduertisement from Turkillus to mooue him to rather to inuade the realme but such aduertisements might come from him before that he was accorded with Egelred Swaine therefore as a valiant prince desirous both to reuenge his sisters death and win honor prepared an huge armie and a great number of ships with the which he made towards England and first comming to Sandwich taried there a small while and taking eftsoones the sea compassed about the coasts of the Eastangles and arriuing in the mouth of Humber sailed vp the water and entering into the riuer of Trent he landed at Gainesbourgh purposing to inuade the Northumbers But as men brought into great feare for that they had béene subiect to the Danes in times past and thinking therefore not to reuolt to the enimie but rather to their old acquaintance if they should submit themselues to the Danes streightwaies offered to become subiect vnto Swaine togither with their duke named Wighthred Also the people of Lindsey and all those of the northside of Watlingstreet yéelded themselues vnto him and deliuered pledges Then he appointed his sonne Cnutus to haue the kéeping of those pledges and to remaine vpon the saâ—egard of his ships whiles he himselfe passed forward into the countrie Then marched he forward to subdue them of south Mercia and so came to Oxford to Winchester making the countries subiect to him through out wheresoeuer he came With this prosperous successe Swaine being greatlie incouraged prepared to go vnto London where king Egelred as then remained hauing with him Turkillus the Dane which was reteined in wages with other of the Danes as by report of some authors it maie appeare and were now readie to defend the citie against their countriemen in support of king Egelred togither with the citizens Swaine bicause he would not step so farre out of the way as to go to the next bridge lost a great number of his men as he passed through the Thames At his comming to London he bagan to assault the citie verie fiercelie in hope either to put his enimie in such feare that he should despaire of all reliefe and comfort or at the least trie what he was able to doo The Londoners on the other part although they were brought in some feare by this sudden attempt of the enimies yet considering with themselues that the hazard of all the whole state of the realme was annexed to theirs sith their citie was the chiefe and metropolitane of all the kingdome they valiantlie stood in defense of themselues and of their king that was present there with them beating backe the enimies chasing them from the walles and otherwise dooing their best to kéepe them off At length although the Danes did most valiantlie assault the citie yet the Englishmen to defend their prince from all iniurie of enimies did not shrinke but boldlie sallied foorth at the gates in heapes togither and incountered with their aduersaries and began to fight with them verie fiercelie Swaine whilest he went about to kéepe his men in order as one most desirous to reteine the victorie now almost gotten was compassed so about with the Londoners on each side that after he had lost a great number of his men he was constreined for his safegard to breake out through the
shortlie after erle Turkill with 9 of those ships sailed into Denmarke submitted himselfe vnto Cnute counselled him to returne into England and promised him the assistance of the residue of those Danish ships which yet remained in England being to the number of thirtie with all the souldiers and mariners that to them belonged To conclude he did so much by his earnest persuasions that Cnute through aid of his brother Harrold king of Denmarke got togither a nauie of two hundred ships so roially decked furnished and appointed both for braue shew and necessarie furniture of all maner of weapons armor munition as it is strange to consider that which is written by them that liued in those daies and tooke in hand to register the dooings of that time Howbeit to let this pompe of Cnutes fléete passe which no doubt was right roiall consider a little and looke backe to Turkill though a sworne seruant to king Egelred how he did direct all his drift to the aduancement of Cnute and his owne commoditie cloking his purposed treacherie with pretended amitie as shall appeare hereafter by his deadlie hostilitie A great waste by an inundation or in-breaking of the sea a tribute of 30000 pounds to the Danes king Egelred holdeth a councell at Oxford where he causeth two noble men of the Danes to be murdered by treason Edmund the king eldest sonne marieth one of their wiues and seizeth vpon his 〈◊〉 lands Cnute the Damsn king returneth into England the Damsn and English armies encounter both 〈…〉 Cnute maketh waste of certeine 〈◊〉 Edmund preuenteth 〈◊〉 purposed treason Edrike de Streona 〈◊〉 to the Danes the Westernemen yeeld to Cnute Mercia refuseth to be subiect vnto him Warwikeshire wasted by the Danes Egelred assembleth an armie against them in vaine Edmund Vtred with ioined forces lay waste such countries and people as became subiect to Cnute his policie to preuent their purpose through what countries he passed Vtred submitteth himselfe to Cnute and deliuereth pledges he 〈◊〉 put to death and his lands alienated Cnute pursueth Edmund to London and prepareth to besiege the citie the death and buriall of Egelred his wiues what issue he had by them his infortunatenesse and to what affections and vices he was inclined his too late and bootlesse seeking to releeue his decaied kingdome The eight Chapter BUt now to returne to our purpose and to shew what chanced in England after the departure of Cnute In the same yeare to the forsaid accustomed mischiefes an vnwoonted misaduenture happened for the sea rose with such high spring-tides that ouerflowing the countries next adioining diuers villages with the inhabitants were drowned and destroied Also to increase the peoples miserie king Egelred commanded that 30000 pounds should be leuied to paie the tribute due to the Danes which lay at Gréenewich This yeare also king Egelred held a councell at Oxford at the which a great number of noble men were present both Danes and Englishmen and there did the king cause Sigeferd and Morcad two noble personages of the Danes to be murdered within his owne chamber by the traitorous practise of Edrike de Streona which accused them of some conspiracie But the quarell was onelie as men supposed for that the king had a desire to their goods and possessions Their seruants tooke in hand to haue reuenged the death of their maisters but were beaten backe wherevpon they fled into the steeple of saint Friswids church and kept the same till fire was set vpon the place and so they were burned to death The wife of Sigeferd was taken sent to Malmsburie being a woman of high fame and great worthinesse wherevpon the kings eldest sonne named Edmund tooke occasion vpon pretense of other businesse to go thither and there to sée hir with whome he fell so far in loue that he tooke and maried hir That doone he required to haue hir husbands lands and possessions which were an earles liuing and lay in Northumberland And when the king refused to graunt his request he went thither and seized the same possessions and lands into his hands without hauing anie commission so to doo finding the farmers and tenants there readie to receiue him for their lord Whilest these things were a dooing Cnute hauing made his prouision of ships and men with all necessarie furniture as before ye haue heard for his returne into England set forward with full purpose either to recouer the realme out of Egelreds hands or to die in the quarrell Herevpon he landed at Sandwich and first earle Turkill obteined licence to go against the Englishmen that were assembled to resist the Danes and finding them at a place called Scoraâ—tan he gaue them the ouerthrow got a great bootie and returned therewith to the ships After this Edrike gouernor of Norwaie made a rode likewise into an other part of the countrie with a rich spoile and manie prisoners returned vnto the nauie After this iournie atchiued thus by Edrike Cnute commanded that they should not waste the countrie anie more but gaue order to prepare all things readie to besiege London but before he attempted that enterprise as others write he marched foorth into Kent or rather sailing round about that countrie tooke his iournie westward came to Fromundham and after departing from thence wasted Dorsetshire Summersetshire Wiltshire King Egelred in this meane time lay sicke at Cossam and his sonne Edmund had got togither a mightie hoast howbeit yer he came to ioine battell with his enimies he was aduertised that earle Edrike went about the betraie him and therefore he withdrew with the armie into a place of suertie But Edrike to make his tratorous purpose manifest to the whole world fled to the enimies with fortie of the kings ships fraught with Danish souldiers Herevpon all the west countrie submitted it selfe vnto Cnute who receiued pledges of the chiefe lords and nobles and then set forward to subdue them of Mercia The people of that countrie would not yéeld but determined to defend the quarrell and title of king Egelred so long as they might haue anie capteine that would stand with them and helpe to order them In the yeare 1016 in Christmas Cnute and earle Edrike passed the Thames at Kirkelade entring into Mercia cruellie began with fire and sword to waste and destroie the countrie and namelie Warwikeshire In the meane time was king Egelred recouered of his sicknesse and sent summons forth to raise all his power appointing euerie man to resort vnto him that he might incounter the enimies and giue them battell But yet when his people were assembled he was warned to take héed vnto himselfe and in anie wise to beware how he gaue battell for his owne subiects were purposed to betraie him Herevpon the armie brake vp king Egelred withdrew to London there to abide his enimies within the walles with whom in the field he doubted
Rogation wéeke Harold eftsoones by the kings commandement went against the Welshmen and taking the sea sailed by Bristow round about the coast compassing in maner all Wales His brother Tostie that was earle of Northumberland met him by appointment with an host of horssemen and so ioining togither they destroied the countrie of Wales in such sort that the Welshmen were compelled to submit themselues to deliuer hostages and conditioned to paie the ancient tribute which before time they had paied And moreouer they renounced their prince the forenamed Griffin so that he remained as a banished person and finallie about the fift day of August they slue him and sent his head to earle Harold Afterwards king Edward granted the rule of Wales vnto Blengent or Blethgent Riuall Griffins two brethren which did homage vnto him for the same and had serued vnder Harold against their brother the foresaid Griffin There be which write that not onelie Griffin but also another of his brethren called Rice was brought to his death by the manfull meanes and politike order of earle Harold all the sauage people of Wales reduced into the forme of good order vnder the subiection of king Edward Shortlie after earle Harold chanced to passe ouer into Normandie whither of hap or of purpose it is hard to define writers doo varie so much in report thereof Some write that he made earnest sute to king Edward to haue licence to go ouer to sée his brother Wilnot and his nephue Hacune which as ye haue heard were deliuered as pledges to king Edward sent into Normandie to remaine there with duke William and at length with much adoo got leaue but yet he was told aforehand of the king that he would repent his iournie and doo the thing that should be preiudiciall to the realme Other write that Harold lieng at his manor of Bosham went aboord one day into his fishers boat or craier and caused the same to lanch forth to the sea for his pleasure but by misfortune at the same time a contrarie wind suddenlie came about and droue the vessell on land into France vpon the coast of Ponthieu where he was taken by the countrie people presented to the earle of Ponthieu named Guie or Guido who kept him as prisoner meaning to put him to a grieuous ransome But Harold remembring himselfe of a wile dispatched a messenger forth with all spéed vnto William duke of Normandie signifieng vnto him that he being sent from king Edward to confirme such articles as other meane men that had béene sent vnto him afore had talked of by chance he was fallen into the hands of the earle of Ponthieu and kept as prisoner against all order of law reason or humanitie Duke William thus informed by the messenger sent to the earle of Ponthieu requiring him to set earle Harold at libertie that he might repaire to him according to his commission The earle of Ponthieu at the dukes request did not onelie restore Harold to his libertie but also brought him into Normandie and presented him there to the duke of whome he was most ioifullie receiued There be that agrée partlie with this report and partlie varie for they write that earle Harold tooke the sea vpon purpose to haue sailed into Flanders and that by force of wâ—â—d he was driuen to the coast of Pouthieu and so after came into Normandie in maner as before is mentioned But by what means or occasion soeuer he came thither certeine it is that he was ioifullie receiued and had great chéere made him by the said duke William who at that time was readie to make a iournie against the Britains and tooke earle Harold with him to haue his companie in armes in that iournei that he might haue the better triall of his valiancie Earle Harold behaued himselfe so that he shewed good proofe both of his wisedome and policie and also of his forwardnesse to execute that with hand which by wit he had deuised so that duke William had him in high fauour and as it hath béene said earle Harold to procure him more friendship at the dukes hands declared vnto him that king Edward had ordeined him his heire if he died without issue and that he would not faile to kéepe the realme of England to the dukes vse according to that ordinance if K. Edward died without issue And to performe this promise he receiued a corporall oth whether willinglie to win the more credit or forced thereto by duke William writers report it diuerslie At the same time duke William promised vnto him his daughter in marriage whom Harold couenanted in like maner to take to wife Harold at his returne into England reporteth to K. Edward what he had doone beyond the seas and what the king said vnto him in that behalfe who foresaw the comming of the Normans into this land to conquer it when and why king Edward promised to make duke William his heire wherein note his subtiltie diffention betwixt Harold and Tostie two brethren the sonnes of earle Goodwine their vnnaturall and cruell dealing one with another speciallie of the abhominable and merciles murthers committed by Tostie against whome the Northumbers rebell vpon diuerse occasions and reward him with answerable reuengement Harold is sent against them but preuaileth not they offer to returne home if they might haue a new gouernor they renounce Tostie and require Marchar in his roome Tostie displeased getteth him into Flanders king Edward dieth his manners and disposition note woorthie his charitie and deuotion the vertue of curing the maladie called the kings euill deriued from him to the succeeding kings of this land he was warned of his death by a ring he is canonized for a saint the last woords that he spake on his death-bed wherein he vttered to the standers by a vision prophesieng that England should be inhabited with strangers a description of the kings person of a blasing starre fore-telling his death the progenie of the Westsaxon kings how long they continued the names of their predecessors and successors whence the first kings of seuen kingdoms of Germanie had their pedegree c. The seuenth Chapter NOw when Harold should returne into England duke William deliuered him his nephue Hacune but kept his brother Wilnote with him still as a pledge Then went earle Harold into England and declared vnto king Edward what he had doone who said vnto him Did not I tell thee that thou wouldest doo the thing whereof thou shouldest repent thee and procure a mischiefe to follow vnto thy countrie But God of his mercie turne that euill hap from this realme or at the least if it be his pleasure that it must needs come to passe yet to staie it till after my daies Some by Harolds purposed going ouer into Normandie doo gather that king Edward foresaw the comming of the Normans and that he meant nothing lesse than to performe the promise made vnto
this daughter of duke William was departed this life before the comming of these ambassadors and that Harold therevpon thought himselfe discharged of the oth and couenants made to duke William and therefore sent them away with such an vntoward answer But howsoeuer it was after the departure of these ambassadors king Harold doubting what would insue caused his ships to be newlie rigged his men of warre to be mustered and spéedilie put in a readinesse to the end that if anie sudden inuasion should be made and attempted by his enimie he might be able to resist them ¶ About the same time also and vpon the 24 of Aprill whilest Harold was making prouision to withstand the Norman force there appeared a blasing starre which was séene not onelie here in England but also in other parts of the world and continued the space of seuen daies This blasing starre might be a prediction of mischéefe imminent hanging ouer Harolds head for they neuer appeare but as prognosticats of afterclaps To be resolutelie instructed herein doo but peruse a treatise intituled A doctrine generall of comets or blasing starres published by a bishop of Mentz in Latine and set foorth in English by Abraham Fleming vpon the apparition of a blasing starre séene in the southwest on the 10 of Nouember 1577 and dedicated to the right worshipfull sir William Cordell knight then maister of hir maiesties rolles c. Earle Tostie afflicteth his brother Harold on sea and land he taketh the repulse and persuadeth Harfager king of Norweâ—e to attempt the conquest of England against Harold Harfager Tostie with their powers arriue at Humber they fight with the Northumbers vnder the conduct of Edwine and Marchar and discomfit them Harold leuieth an armie against them the rare valiantnes of a Norwegian souldior Harfager and Tostie slaine in battell the Norwegians are foiled and flie Harolds vnequall and parciall diuiding of the spoile he goeth to Yorke to reforme things amisse The ninth Chapter WHilest Harold desirous to reteine and verie loth to let go his vsurped roialtie had crackt his credit with the duke of Normandie and by his lewd reuolting from voluntarie promises ratified with solemne othes had also kindled the fire of the dukes furie against him it came to passe that the proud and presumptuous man was to begin withall vexed in his owne flesh I meane his owne kinred For Tostie the brother of king Harold who in the daies of king Edward for his crueltie had béene chased out of the realme by the Northumbers returning out of Flanders assembled a nauie of ships from diuers parts to the number of 60 with the which he arriued in the I le of Wight there spoiled the countrie and afterward sailing about by the coasts of Kent he tooke sundrie preies their also and came at the last to Sandwich so that Harold was now constreined to appoint the nauie which he had prepared against the Normans to go against his brother earle Tostie Whereof the said Tostie being aduertised drew towards Lindsey in Lincolnshire and there taking land did much hurt in the countrie both with sword and fire till at length Edwine earle of Mercia and Marchar earle of Northumberland aided with the kings nauie chased him from thence and caused him to flie into Scotland not without some losse both of his men and ships This trouble was scarse quieted but streightwaies another came in the necke thereof farre more dangerous than the first For Tostie perceiuing that he could get no aid in Scotland to make anie account of sailed forth into Norweie and there persuaded Harold Harfager king of that realme to saile with an armie into England persuading him that by meanes of ciuill dissention latelie kindled betwixt the king and his lords which was not so it should be an easie matter for him to make a conquest of the whole realme and reigne ouer them as his predecessors had done before Some authors affirme that Harold king of Norwey tooke this enterprise in hand of his owne mind and not by procurement of Tostie saieng that Tostie méeting with him in Scotland did persuade him to go forward in his purposed busines and that the said Harold Harfager with all conuenient spéed passed foorth with a nauie of 300 saile entered into the riuer of Tine where after he had rested a few daies to refresh his people earle Tostie came also with his power according to an appointment which should be made betweene them They ad furthermore that they sailed forth alongst the coast till they arriued in the mouth of Humber then drawing vp against the streame of the riuer Owse they landed at length at a place called Richhall from whence they set forward to inuade the countrie néere vnto Yorke on the north-side of the citie they fought with the power of the Northumbers which was led by the earls Edwine and Marchar two brethren and there discomfited and chased them into the citie with great slaughter and bloudshed Harold king of England being aduertised of this chance made the more hast forward for he was alreadie in the field with his armie intending also to come towards his enimies so that vpon the fift day after he came to Stamford bridge finding there the said king Harfager and Tostie readie imbattelled he first assailed those that kept the bridge where as some writers affirme a Norwegian souldier with his axe defended the passage mauger the whole host of the Englishmen and slue fortie of them or more with his axe might not be ouercome till an Englishman went with a boat vnder the said bridge and through and hole thereof thrust him vp into the bodie with his speare yet Matt. West saith that he was slaine with a dart which one of king Harold his seruants threw at him so ended his life Which bridge being woone the whole host of the Englishmen passed ouer and ioined with their enimies and after a verie great and sore battell put them all to flight In this conflict Harold Harfager king of the Norwegians was slaine so was Tostie the king of England his brother besides a great number of other as well in the battell as in the chase neither did the Englishmen escape all frée for the Norwegians fought it out a long time verie stoutlie beating downe and killing great numbers of such as assailed them with great courage and assurance The residue of the Norwegians that were left to keepe their ships vnder the guiding of Olaue sonne to the king of Norwaie and Paule earle of Orkneie after they vnderstood by their fellowes that escaped from the field how the mater went with Harfager and Tostie they hoised vp their sailes and directed their course homewards bearing sorowfull newes with them into their countrie of the losse of their king and ouerthrow of all his people Some write that
or Elfer duke of Mercia departed this life Alfrike or Elfrike duke of Mercia Fabian Wil. Malm. Matt. West Vita Dunstani Iohn Capgr Osborne Ran. Higd. Polychron Wil. Malm. Matt. Westm. The Danes inuade this land Alias Wecederport H. Hunt Simon Dun. Danes vanquished Simon Dun. Goda earle of Deunonshire slaine Matt. VVest 991 Ten thousand pounds paid to the Danes Danegilt Wil. Malm. 992 Hen. Hunt A nauie set forth Alfrike a traitour to his countrie Matth. West Henr. Hunt The son punished for his fathers offense 993 Simon Dun. Polydor. Matth. West Aulafe king of Norway Swein king of Denmarke were capteins of this fleet as saith Simon Dun. 994 Hen. Hunt Wil. Malm. The king compoundeth with the Danes for monie Matt. West Simon Dun. Aulafe king of Norwey baptised His promise Iohn Leland Simon Dun. 995 The church of Durham builded Earle Uthred Durham town and minster builded 997 The Danes inuade the west parts of this land Tauestocke 998 999 The Danes arriue in the Thames 1000 1001 Exmouth Pentho Disagréement with councellors what 〈◊〉 fruit it bringeth The misgouernement of the king Sicknesse vexing the people Treason in the nobilitie The inhancing of the tribute paid to the Danes The death of quéene Elgina Emma Hen. Hunt 1002 Emma daughter of R. duke of Normandie maried to K. Edgar 1012 The 13 of Nouember The murder of the Danes Hownhill or Houndhill a place within Merchington parish beside the forest of Néedwood somewhat more than two miles from Utoxcester The miserable state of this realme vnder the thraldome of the Danes Hector Boet. Lordane whereof the word came Hen. Hunt Simon Dun. The Danes returne to inuade England Excester taken 1002 Hugh a Norman conspireth with the Danes The counterfeit sicknesse of duke Edrike Wilton spoiled Simon Dun. 1004 Swein king of Denmarke Norwich taken by the Danes Thetford burnt Uikillus or Wilfeketell gouernour of Norffolke Hen. Hunt 1005 Swaine returned into Denmarke Simon Dun. 1006 Hen. Hunt Swaine returned into England The Danes winter in the I le of Wight They inuade Hampshire Barkeshire c. Winchester 1007 36000 pound saith Si. Dun. Edrike de Streona made duke or earle of Mercia Wil. Malm. Henr. Hunt Simon Dun. An hundred acres is an hide of land 1008 Prouision for ships and armour Matt. West Danes land at Sandwich 1009 3000 pound saith Si. Dun. Sussex and Hampshire spoiled The Danes returne into Kent 1010 Oxford burnt Stanes Gipswich in Suffolke Simon Dun. Caput formicae Thetford Cambridge Hen. Hunt She Danes arriue in the Thames 1011 Northampton burnt by Danes How manie shires the Danes wasted The king senbeth to the Danes Simon Dun. 1011 Canturburie woone by Danes Fabian ex Anâ—onino The archbishop Elphegus taken Hen. Hunt Antoninus Vincentius Wil. Lamb. ex Asserio Meneuensi alijs 1112 Henr. Hunt The archbishop Elphegus murthered Miracles Elphegus buried in London Translated to Canturburie Wil. Malms Turkillus held Norffolk and Suffolke 48 thousand pound as saith Sim. Dun. and M. West Henr. Hunt Matth. West Gunthildis the sister of K. Swaine murthered Wil. Malm. Turkillus discloseth the secrets of the realme to K. Swaine Simon Dun. Swaine prepareth an armie to inuade England He landeth at Sandwich 1013 Gainsbourgh The Northumbers yeeld to Swaine The people of Lindsey yeeld themselues to him Simon Dun. South Mercia Sim. Dunel Swaine assaulteth London Polydor. Wil. Malm. Erle of Deuonshire as saith Matt. West Polydor. Swaine returneth into Denmarke Swaine returneth into England to make warre King Egelred discomfited in battell King Egelred determineth to giue place vnto Swaine He sendeth his wife and sonnes ouer into Normandie Richard duke of Normandie Simon Dun. Hen. Hunt Turkill 1014 King Egelred passeth into Normandie Swaine handleth the Englishmen hardlie Fabian S. Edmund fighteth for the wealth but not for the slaughter of his people Simon Dun. 1115 Albertus Crantz Saxo Granamaticus Wil. Malm. H. Hunt Canute or Cnute Egelred sent for home Edmund K. Egelreds eldest sonne King Egelred returneth into England Cnutes endeuor to establish himselfe in the kingdome S. Edmunds ditch Polydor. Fabian Cnute driuen to forsake the land He was driuen thither by force of contrarie winds as should appeare by Matth. West The cruell decrée of Cnute against the English pledges Will. Malmes This Turkill was reteined in seruice with Egelred as I thinke Encomium Emmae 1015 Matt. VVest Simon Dun. Wil. Malm. Matth. West A councell at Oxford Sigeferd and Morcad murdered Edmund the kings eldest sonne marrieth the widow of Sigeferd Cnute returneth into England 〈…〉 Wil. Malm. Hen. Hunt Matth. West Sim. Dun. King Egelred sicke Matth. West Edrike de Streona â—â—eth to the Danes Simon Dun. The west countrie The people of Mercia would not yéeld Matth. West Hen. Hunt 1016 Warwikeshire wasted by the Danes King Egelred recouered of his sicknesse He assembleth an armie in vaine Wil. Malm. Edmund king Egelreds sonne Cnute what countries he passed through Earle Utred deliuered pledges to Cnute Alâ—ds Egricus Cnute prepareth to besiege London King Egelred departed this life Simon Dun. Matth. West He is buried in the church of S. Paul at London The pride of king Egelred alienated the harts of his people Sée the historie of Cambriae pag. 62 63 Edmund Ironside The kingdom goeth where the spiritualtie fauoureth The author of the booke intituled Encomium Emmae saith that it was reported that Edmund offered the combate vnto Cnute at this his going from the citie but Cnute refused it 1016 Ran. Higd. Hen. Hunt Simon Dun. London besieged Cnute at Galingham in Dorsetshire put to flight Polydor. Salisburie besieged Simon Dun. Matt. West Wit Malm. I battell with equall fortune An other battell with like successe Edrike de Streona his treason Simon Dun. Twentie thousand dead bodies The armies dislodged The Danes ouercome at Brentford Wil. Malm. Hen. Hunt Fabian Caxton Polydor. Hent Hunt The riuer of Medwaie King Edmunds diligence The battell is begun The Danes put to flight The number of Danes slaine Polydor. Fabian Ran. Higd. Matt. West Hen. Hunt Will. Malmes Noble men slaine at the battell of Ashdone Simon Dun. Wil. Malm. King Edmund withdraweth unto Glocestershire Polydor. Matth. West Simon Dun. Matth. West saith this was Edrike The two kings appoint to try the matter by a combat Oldney Matt. Westm. Cnute of what stature he was Cnute ouermatched Cnutes woords to Edmund H. Hunt They take vp the matter betwixt them selues Wil. Malm. Encomium Emmae This is alleged touching the partitioÌ„ of the kingdome K. Edmund traitorcuster slaine at Oxford Fabian Simon Dan. This is allged againe for the proofe of Edmunds natural death Fabian Ranul Hig. Hen. Hunt Some thinke that he was duke of Mercia before and now had Essex adioined thereto Diuerse and discordant reports of Edmunds death Ran. Higd. Will. Malm. Canute Knought or Cnute 1017 Wil. Malm. Ran. Higd. King of châ—rles Wil. Malm. Ran. Higd. Polydor. King Cnute maried to quéene Emma the widow of Egelred in Iulie anno 1017. Polydor.